Goblin shark fisherman also hauled in 'freakin' giant isopods!'

When fishermen hauled in a prehistoric-looking goblin shark from the Gulf of Mexico this month, marine biologists were astonished at the discovery of the rarely seen deep-sea creature.

But it seems their accidental find is even more remarkable.

Upon closer examination of photographs of the haul off Key West in Florida, a marine biologist spotted what he described as "freakin' giant isopods!"

The isopods were crustaceans such as slaters, commonly found in Australian gardens. But the ones shown in the photographs were "about the size of a house cat", Californian marine biologist Andrew Thaler said.

He told CNN that giant isopods were common in the deep sea, but spotting them was rare because they were usually very spread out.

He suggested that the goblin shark and the giant isopods might have been attracted to a rotting whale carcass, which would explain the rare haul.

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“[Giant isopods are] usually spread pretty thin and only occur in abundance around a food source,” Mr Thaler told the Houston Chronicle.

“So, I hypothesized that the trawl might have passed over a whalefall, which would also explain the goblin shark.”